Top 12 U.S. states for solar power in northeast & west: Conservative southeast policy makers still n…

The granddaddy of solar energy adoption in the U.S., California has more than a third of the nation's cumulative capacity (2.9 GW). Two other states have added 1 GW of cumulative capacity; California did that in 2012 alone. Third-party-owned solar residential systems made up two-thirds of all residential PV installations in the first three months of this year, exceeding non-residential for the first time. California also owns one of the more robust RPS in the country, and studies indicate the RPS efforts haven't broken the bank . In fact California is on its way to achieving its 33 percent RPS well before its 2020 deadline, and efforts are already underway to determine what the next level should be. Similarly, the state's California Solar Initiative has been successful, and arguably it too should be expanded